The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is hearing a case concerning the legal fees of former Lancaster County District Attorney, Craig Stedman, who is now a county judge. Stedman filed a lawsuit against the county commissioners, asserting his authority to use funds from two programs in his department to pay $69,000 in legal fees. The Philadelphia law firm, Kleinbard LLC, which Stedman hired for his lawsuit, is seeking to have the case sent back to a lower court to obtain a ruling that would allow it to collect the money.
Stedman sued the county commissioners in 2019, alleging they were interfering with his authority to independently run his office and were attempting to improperly audit his use of drug forfeiture funds. In December 2019, shortly before resigning as district attorney after winning election to the Court of Common Pleas, Stedman submitted a $74,000 invoice to the county for Kleinbard’s work. The commissioners only paid $5,000, the amount budgeted for the district attorney’s office to use for outside legal expenses.
Kleinbard then sued the county for the rest of the money, claiming a breach of contract. A visiting court of common pleas judge ruled in favor of the county in February 2022. Kleinbard appealed, but in April 2023, a panel of three Commonwealth Court judges affirmed the original ruling. The state Supreme Court has not indicated when it may rule on the case.(^1^)